AUGUSTA – State lottery officials and representatives of the Multi-State Lottery Association were resolving a few last-minute security issues Friday in preparation for the state’s entry next week into the Powerball game.

Tickets for the multimillion-dollar jackpot will go on sale at noon Friday, July 30, at all agent locations in Maine where Megabucks tickets are sold. Those who purchase Powerball tickets will be eligible to participate in the drawing at 10:59 p.m. Saturday, July 31. On Friday, the game featured a $36 million grand-prize jackpot.

Powerball is played in 28 states, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia and is administered by the Multi-State Lottery Association which has granted Maine’s conditional inclusion in the organization pending final resolution of security issues.

“We haven’t had a problem in the past with states coming online,” said Joe Mahoney, MUSL spokesman. “With any computer checks, we want to make sure the computers can talk to each other and that everything is working well because at the end of the day, players want to be able to put a dollar down and purchase a ticket knowing the system will recognize it.”

Pam Coutts, director of the state Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, said Maine must clear high- and low-level security audits before tickets can be sold in the state. She anticipated no problems that might impede Maine’s launching of the game next week.

“We have met all of the high-level security audit standards, but we have to address a few low-level security audit standards, which include changing a lock on a door or adding a different curtain or painting a window,” she said. “But we are launching Powerball. All issues have been closed and one of the things that they did tell us was that Maine was the first state they’ve been in where they have had no high-level security issues to address. We’re pretty pleased with that.”

Coutts said the state will begin airing radio commercials next week to promote the game and that message screens usually placed near agent terminals will also remind ticket buyers of the Powerball game’s debut. Field representatives for the game are already distributing point-of-sale materials to all Maine agents.

“Bet slips are in the stores and people are picking them up and getting ready,” Coutts said.

Drawings for the five winning numbers plus the Powerball number will take place on Wednesday and Saturday nights. Coutts said the state plans to close ticket sales for each evening’s drawings at 9:50 p.m.

According to the Powerball Web site, there are nine different ways to win in the game, which features odds of 1 in 120,526,770 for the grand prize down to 1 in 70 for simply matching the Powerball alone. The Multi-State Lottery Association maintains that overall odds of winning a prize in the game are better than 1 in 36 for each $1 ticket purchase.

On drawing nights, five white balls are selected at random from a drum containing 53 balls and one red ball is removed from a drum containing 42 red balls. Players win by matching their numbers with those printed on the balls. The jackpot, won by matching all five white balls in any order along with the red Powerball, is paid through 30 annuitized payments or in a lump sum equal to about half the jackpot before taxes.

Winners have up to 60 days after the prize is claimed to choose between the cash or annuity options. The second-tier prize, won by matching five white balls in any order, is a $100,000 cash payment. Prizes decline in subsequent tiers from $5,000 to $3.

The Powerball game also features a “Power Play” option that allows a winner to multiply the original prize amount for an extra $1 per ticket. Powerball players can multiply their Powerball prizes by two, three, four or five times when purchasing their tickets depending on which “Power Play” number is drawn. The “Power Play” option does not extend to the grand prize.

Gov. John E. Baldacci and the Maine Legislature approved the state’s application for inclusion in the Powerball lottery as a way to generate nearly $9 million a year in new revenue to balance the state budget. Lee Umphrey, spokesman for the governor, said Baldacci was convinced Maine needed Powerball to remain competitive with New Hampshire where the game was attracting Maine players who normally played the Megabucks game. Both games continue to be offered in both states.

The governor, however, will not be among Mainers lining up to buy Powerball tickets Friday.

“He wouldn’t buy lottery tickets on any other day and that day will be no different,” Umphrey said.